



[ELLINCHANI 

WHATCOM 

COUNTY 
WASHINGTON 





9&^ 



IL ILS 



KI A 



Industrial and Commercial Metropolis of Northwest Washington. 
Most Favored Seaport of Puget Sound. 



BKLLINGHAM is the most northwesterly city in the 
I'niltd States; the metropolis of Northwest Wash- 
ington; the county seat of Whatcom County; the 
louimercial center of 50 per cent, of the farm and fruit 
region of the Puget Sound basin; the logical trading 
point and shipping port for .Maska and the Orient, 
being the nearest 
.American city. 
R e 1 1 i n g h a m has a 
population of 22,t>32, 
according to the offi- 
cial census of January, 
1!I04, and is the fourth 
city in size in the state 
of Washington; it 
ranks first in fish pro- 
ducts, second in shin- 
gles and third in lum- 
ber. 

Bellingham has five 
miles of the most val- 
uable tidewater front- 
age on the Pacific 
Coast and Bellingham 
Hay, a practically 
landlocked arm of 
I'uget Sound, embrac- 
ing r>0 stpiare miles, 
from 20 to 7.T feet 
deep, making alxso- 
lutely safe navigation 
and anchorage any- 
where in it, is recog- 
nized the world over ^^^^ m, , 
as the most perfect 

and ample harbor on the Pacific coast of North or South 
.■\merica. 

Bellingham is the only important city on the Pacific 
Coast that is reached by three transcontinental railroads, 
and another railroad with transcontinental connection .it 
Spokane has been surveyed through the Cascades from 
Bellingham eastward. All these railroac.s make terminal 
freight and passenger rates to Bellingham. 




Bfllinghani has the largest coal field ever discovered 
on the Pacific Coast, being 2.50 s<|uare miles in exLent. 
Back of the coal are the famous Whatcom county gold 
fields, Mount Baker and Slate Creek, among the richest 
and greatest deposits of tieasure ever touched by pick 
and drill. AU this is new, fresh, inviting to honest 
wealth and industry 
and full of rich re- 
ward to all who have 
will and wealth to in- 
vest in wholesome de- 
velopment. 



«iii«ii'l. 

:i:;i!l!ir 



tiiHi,;^ 



;^fi::;<* 



Bellingham has a per- 
fect gravity city water 
system, a J;2r>0,000 
plant, owned by the 
city, the supply being 
from Lake Whatcom, 
2'2 mile-; distant, 1 by 
12 miles in extent, 
from 30 to 900 feet 
deep, 318 feet above 
tidewater, yielding a 
gravity pressure of 
from 85 to 120 pounds 
per inch. .Also an in- 
ilependent city water 
system valued at J150,- 
(HKi, Lake Padden be- 
ing the source of sup- 
ply,437 feet above tide 
water and 2 miles dis- 
tant. ~ The two sys- 
tems comprise about 100 miles of pipe and the water 
supply is inexhaustible. 

Bellingham has a twin sewer system representing a total 
cost of about $.300,000, and including 2fi>i miles of 
sewer. 

Bellingham is the home of the largest and'most popuar 
State Normal School in the state of Washington, repre- 
senting an expenditure of $247,300 by the State. This 



COrRT HOUSK 



state institution maintains a faculty of 19 professors; 
the enrollment of studeut teachers exceeds SOOJannu- 
alh-; tuition is free. 

Bellingham's city school sj'stem is one of the most 
complete in the West, employing a ^faculty of 80 
teachers, free libraries in nearly all the buildings, 
free text books, ten months of school each year. 
The school-house properties cost ;f"270,000and include 
.5 brick and stone and 6 frame buildings. 
Bellingham has two free public libraries with 6,000 
bound volumes and two specially built library build- 
ings, one of which is a Carnegie donation. 
Bellingham has one of the best city hall buildings in 
the State, built of brick and stone at a cost of |50,000. 
Bellingham has five theaters, including Beck's superb 
playhouse, seating capacity 2,100, the finest theater 
west of Denver, built in 1902 at a cost of $15.5,000. 
Bellingham has magnificent fair grounds, county 
fair buildings and the fastest elliptical race track in 
the State. 





BECK'S THE.4TER 



STREET SCENES 

Bellingham has a free delivery postoffice, estabished 12 years. 

The receipts for the past five years aggregated as follows: 

1899, $17,388.80; 1900, $20,867.85; 1901, $27,070.20; 1902, $,32,- 

077.24; 1903, $,30,.520.15. 

Bellingham during 1903 spent in impiovements of streets $126,- 

591.49, sewers #2,803.95, and water works $93,200, and erected 

■lew buildings and industrial structures to the value of $1,010.- 

S80— a total of $1,233,375.44. 

Bellingham has the cheapest electric light and power service 

on the Pacific Coast. Whatcom Creek, the mouth of which is 




Two of Our II School BulldinK 
EmployiiiK 80 Tcjchcrs 



.fj f^K 



«*«• 





the property of the city, lias a fall of 315 feet tn less 
than three miles with a tniniiiuini flow of 140 cubic feet 
per second, capable of a reliable net horsepower of 1!, 400. 
Also the falls of the North Fork of the Nooksack river, 
having a sheer vertical height of 103 feet, a fall of odO 
feet within a mile, capable of developing a minimum of 
40.000 horsepower, 5,(X)0 horsepower of which is now be- 
ing developed by the installation of an'imniense power 
and light plant by the Hellinghani Hay & British Colum- 
bia Kailroad Companj', construction having been in 
progress constantly the past two years. ; The city also 
has an excellent gas plant, having two holders of 200,- 
000 cubic feet capacity. 
Bellinghani has a splendid system of electric street 



railway, with more than 15 miles of track in operation, 
and the local company builds .ts own cars. Stone & 
Webster, Boston, are the proprietors of the street rail- 
way and gas plants. Two other corporations have 
secured franchises for more than 75 miles of suburl an 
electric railways, tapping the richest tributary sections 
of forest, orchard, farm, meadow and mine. 
Bellinghani has 37 church organizations, four women's 
clubs, two men's social clubs, the Bcllingham Chapibcr 
of Commerce with 415 members, and 50 established 
fraternal lodges. 

Bellinghani has a telephone system using 1 ,800 tele- 
phones. The minimum fee is }\ a month. 





Industrially, according to the lecord of 1003, 
BellingUam is second in output of shingles and 
third in lumber of the greatest lumber and 
shingle commonwealth in the world. During 
1903 the seven Bellingham sawmills cut Ifil,- 
459,338 feet of lumber and the 22 Bellingham 
shingle mills cut 542,222,400 shingles This 
year we add two siiwmills and three shingle 
mills, which will give us first place in shingles 
and second place in lumber. The Puget Sound 
Mills & Timber Company's plant at Belling- 
ham includes the largest red cedar shingle mill 
in the world, 5.50,000 shingles daily, employ- 
ing a total of 300 men. The Bellingham Bay 
Improvement Compan}' has one of the world's 
greatest sawmills, cutting 59,710,405 feet of 
lumber and employing 225 men during 1903. 
This corporation, with its allied corporation^ 
the Bellingham Bay & British Columbia Railroad Company, forms the most extensive local industrial institution, 
and expended in Whatcom county during 1901, 1902 and 1903 in improvements, material and labor, a total of 
13,702,860, of which {;i75,000 was for taxes, |1,028,572 for logs and $950,000 for wages. 

Seven of these Bellingham mills during 1903 employed 1,050 men and paid out in wages |865,000. During the year 
102 ocean vessels received lumber cargo for various parts of the world, the vessels disbursing while in port from 
f450 to nearly |15,000 each for labor, repairs and supplies. 

B e 1 1 i n g Ii a in F i s fi e r / e s 

Bellingham is the headquarters, supply center and largest jiacking city of the fisheries of Puget Sound and 
Alaska, and is so recognized by the State maintaining its Fish Commissioner's headquarters here. This city nianu- 



.\N EXPORT SAWMILL— Capacity 20.r0n Feet ol Lumber Per Hour 




.1 ST SHINGLK .MILL 




SALMON CANNKRY— Whatcom Co\lllty has 13 Sa 

factures the tin cans and canning machinery for the can- 
neries of Washington and Alaska, these auxiliary in- 
dustries, the American Can Company and Burpee & Let- 
son, employing ISO persons. Ninety per cent, of the 
salmon taken in Puget Sound arc taken within 20 miles 
from Rellinghani, and of the '24 I'uget Sound canneries 
K$ are in Whatcom county, including the two largest 
canneries in the world, which put up annually over half 
the entire pack of Puget Sound. These canneries em- 
ploy 41 steamboats, IS launches, 31 pile-drivers, 312 
scows, 350 other boats, 8,20.5 men, capital invested $5,- 
582,333, year's payroll $1,1143,890, value of product (1902) 
$5,528,.595. The Pacific Packing & Navigation Com- 
pany, with headquarters here, where it operates 
much the largest cannerj- in the world, has 5 Puget 
.Sound and 11 Alaska canneries and operates more 
vessels than any other single company, including 2 
ships, 3 schooners, 27 steamboats, 24 steam and elec- 
tric tugs and launches, 5(X) fish boats, (>00 scows, 35 
steam pile-drivers. 

/if// I II g /i n III O y s i e r s 
RcUingham oysters, including Puget Sound, Eastern 
and Japanese oysters, ate being cultivated exten- 
sively at Samish Bay, a few miles south of the city, 
where are over 2,000 acres of the choicest oyster beds 
in the State, owned by the Bellingham, Huntoon, 
Pacific Coast, Oyster Creek and Sauiish oyster com- 
panies and individuals. This is practically a new 
industry, only 3 years old in fact, but a future of 
unusual importance is already assured. 

C o / d Storage 
The Hacketl Cold Storage Company has just estab- 
lished in Bellinaham the largest and most perfect 
storage plant north of San Francisoo, cost |150,()00, 
cold storage capacity 3,000 tons, refrigerating capacity 
150 tons daily; operating in connection 100 refriger- 
itor railroad cars each of .30 tons capacity. 

n y - P r o d ti c t s of F i r 

Bellingham has a new factory for the manufacture of 
turpentine, tar, tar oil, etc., out of fir stumps and 
wastewood, capacity 2,000 gallons by-products per 



day, cost of plant ;f37,OOll, 8 men employed indoors, 
began operating February, 1904. This industry insures 
sufficient value in the stumps and refuse wood on logged- 
off lands to pay for clearing ready for the plow. A 
similar factor}', now being increased to the Bellingham 
plant's capacity, is in operation on Lummi island, across 
the Bay from Bellingham. 

Superior Natural A dz' a ii t ag r s for 



Dairies 

Vinegar and Cider Mill 

I'oultry Growing 

Woodenwarc Factory 

Furniture Factory 

Broom Factory 

Beet Sugar Factory 

Flax Mill 

Cordage Mill 

Fish Net I'actory 

Woolen Mill 

All Kinds of Weaving 



Ship Yard 

Fruitand Vegetable Cannery 

String Instruments Factory 

Tannery 

Boot and Shoe Factory 

Pottery Factory 

Tile and Pipe Making 

Portland Cement Factory 

Glass Factory 

Marble Works 

Smelter 

Machinerj' Factories 




MIN'.IIA.M llSHI-.kll 




A I-(iKTIi.)-V OF BhXLINGHAJI WATERl-RONT 



fciatlc© 



uflimti F 



HATCOM County forms the Northwest cor- 
ner of the United States and is bounded on 
the west by the Georgian Straits of Puget 
Sound and the Gulf of Georgia, on the 
north by British Columbia, on the east by 
the summit of the Cascade mountains, and 
on the south by Skagit County. The gross 
area is 2,448 square miles, or 1,556,720 
acres, of which about 1,000,000 acres is mountainous, 
heavily timbered country still unsurveyed and sparsely 
settled. It is larger than the state of Delaware and the 





District of Columbia combined. Near the center of the 
county Moujt Baker, one of the most imposing and pic- 
turesque mountains on the American continent, rises to 
a height of 11,100 feet, with lesser peaks and tributary- 
ranges north, east and south of it, covering a richly min- 
eralized area of nearly 1,300 square miles, embracing the 
well known Mount Baker and Slate Creek gold fields. 
The fruit, farming, grazing and timber lands of the 
count}' comprise the area west of Mount Baker, being 
an area of about 1,000 square miles, containing about 
500,000 acres of tillable soil. The county is drained by 
the Nooksack river and its three branches, by Baker 
river and several smaller streams, and by the Skagit 
river and its upper tributaries, which drain the south- 
ern section. 



Hist 



o r v 



and Population 



BKI.LINGHAM B.\Y BREWHRY— 60,000 Barrels of Beer Annuallv 



^f tlHATCOM county was first settled at Bellingham 
^^^ in 1852 and was organized as a county in 1854. 
In 1873 San Juan county was created out of the west- 
ern or island territory of Whatcom county, and in 
1884 the county of Skagit was formed from the south- 
ern half of Whatcom county. The population as 
given by the United States census returns of 18(i0, 
1870, 1880, 1890 and 1900, and estimated by the state 
school census of 1903 (taking the federal census of 




I.IVl-: STUCK lARMS 



I-miT I-I.OKAl. lUI.IlS 

liHM) and the state school censuses of lilOO and 1903 as Pop u I a ( i n of Whatcom County 



bases) were as follows : 

IKdO 352 1890 1«,591 

1H70 534 1900 24,ll»i 

18«0 3,137 1903 43,257 

1904 (estimated) 50,000 



Citi c 



a II 



d Toii'its 



01 fi 



i a I School 



Statistics o / 



1890 
,, ,,■ , ^ Formerly Whatcom ( u v^e: 

BcllinRham, ; and Fairhaveii j ••••"•'•'^ 

niaine 1.5l»3 

Sunias 

I.ynden.: 5ti0 

*Offieiai census i.onii>kle(l January 22, 1904. 



1!KK) 


liX)4 


1,062 


*22,632 


1,.592 


3.200 


319 


900 


3(15 


850 



/r// a t com Count y 

Towns having Grailed Schools 17 

Valuation of School Properties $305,366 00 

1900 1901 1902 1903 

.Sunil.tr children of school age ii.770 7,619 8,825 9,835 

Averajje UuKlh of term, ni'ths 8.1 8.4 8.5 8.4 

\verage salary, male icachers.ol. 80 .14.04 61. .59 63.89 

Average salary, female fch'rs..44.28 46.05 46.68 49..55 



76 



Number of districts in county.. 
Number having five months or 

more of school.... 

Number having seven months 

or more of scliool 44 



79 



m 




Idleal ^^nammer 



sort 




iiNVIGORATIXG sea air, the wonderful 
mountain ranges, the neighboring archi- 
pelago of evergreen isles, the noble for- 
ests of fir and cedar through which the 
sunlight never penetrates, the countless 
mountain streams and lakes alive with 

trout and bass, the agate beaches 

clam coves and gull-peopled 

rock reefs, make What 

com count}- a summer 

resort unmarred bj' a 

single unpleasant fea- 
ture. The woods are 

full of wild berries and 

game, such as deer, 

pheasants, bear, cougar 

wildcats, rabbits, ptarmigan 

grouse, mountain goats and 

^, Indian- c \Mr 

pigeons. The streams are alive with 

the gamiest trout in the world. The Sound is a never- 
failing source of delight to the yachtsman, fisherman, 
bather or camper-out. The marshes and the tide- 
washed sloughs are the haunts of ducks, geese, brant, and 
snipe. There are no poisonous reptiles, insects or 
plants, and less flies and mosquitos than in anj' other 




country of the same latitude. Above all, the climate is 
ideal, the delicious and cooling sea, air ever gently mov- 
ing landward, and the temperature seldom rising above 
SO degrees. 

From Bellingham the horizon in all directions presents 
a panorama of the most inspiring grandeur — the Olym- 
pic mountains and the San Juan 
group of islands in the south- 
west; the fields and forests 
and the Gulf of Georgia in 
the northwest; the great 
forests and far beyond the 
towering Selkirks o f 
British Columbia in the 
north; forests, fir- 
bearded hills, Mt. 
Baker, The Sisters 
and the Cascade 
mountains in the 
east, and in the south the beautiful bays aud coves, the 
picturesque cliffs and reefs and the dreamy, green- 
hemmed waters of Puget Sound. It is such a scope and 
splendor of view as to inspire the most prosaic with 
renewed interest in nature and with a true sense of the 
joy of living. 













\VlI.\TCOM COrXTY SCENERY 



Farinmiiinip' '^midl Frunnil Gro^^yiimi 



IN WHATCOM COUNTY 




U A T C (J M coiiiily is practically 
100 miles long, east and west, and 
25 miles wide, north and south. 
The eastern half or more is moun- 
tainous and the climate is more 
severe than in the western portion, 
which is a region of prolific forest 
growth, rich and fertile valleys, 
and the climate is the most equa- 
^ W/)\Xii^ ble in the United 
Cttlir//^3>^ states, having less 
rainfall and more sun- 
shine than any other 
portion of the Puget Sound region. 
Whatcom county has more and better 
wagon roads than any other county in the 
State, so that farmers and fruit grow- 
ers have the best facilities for market- 
ing their products every day in the 
year. Many tracts of land from 
which the choicest timber has been 
logged off may be had at from JIO to 
f'M i>er acre, on easy terms. The 
average cost of clearing these lands 
ready for seeding is 140 per acre, and 
usually the limber left yields enough 
to pay for the land and clearing, and 
often more. Ten acres of this land 
will keep any family in as comfort- 
able circumstances as 100 acres 
would in many less (avore<l 
districts in the Kast. Live stock 
thrives the year round, for the 
forests are evergreen and the 
grass and luxuriant under- 
growth are always full of life 
mil nutriment. Naturally it is 
' he logical home for cattle, 
~lieep and goats, the .Angora goats lately introduced 
thriving perfectly. Dairying is a ra]>idly growing and 
always profitable industry, and the introduction of 
.ilfalfa and the silo method of i)reparing and preserving 
^tock food have established the indu.stry in the front 
rank of our rural enterprises. Cieamery butter and 
choice ranch butter averages 25 cents a pound the year 
round. Ivggs range in price from 20 to ."it) cents a dozen, 
and chickens dressed lor market from .")(J to '.«J cents 




each. .-Vll poultry, except turkeys, thrive remarkably 
well here. Natural conditions are as favorable in What- 
com county as in the most favored part of the world for 
the raising of wool, flax fiber, sugar beets and chicory, 
and all have been grown lure, for a series of years, 
demonstrating the most favored conditions of soil an<l 
climate. F.conomic conditions in the form of factories 
for the consumption of these products have not vet 
been established. 

GRAI N — Hops and barley, both of which yield in the 
highest measure and quality in Whatcom county, find 
ready local market in the Hellingham Hay 
Nooksack Brewery, an immense exporting institution. 
Fills Whatcom county wheat yields abundantly, 
but is too soft for milling and is used ex- 
clusively for feed. Oats are invariably high 
in (juality and the crop ranges from 50 to 
140 bushels per acre. 

F R I' I T — .■\11 kinds of fruits thrive luxuri- 
antly and bear abundantly in Whatcom 
county. -Apples, pears, peaches, prunes, 
plums, nectarines, apricots, cherries, crab- 
apples and berries of all kinds are grown by 
Whatcom county horticulturists. .Apples, 
pears, prunes, plums, crabapples, cherries 
and all the small fruits are grown preferably 
as the most abundant bearing, sure crops 
and most profitable. Such lovers of hot- 
house temperature as peaches, quinces, 
grapes, tomatoes, melons, etc., are not sure 
crops and are not generally cultivated. 
FLORAL B U L B S —Whatcom county 
is the only recognized competitor of Hol- 
land and the Bermuda islands in the produc- 
tion of tulip, narcissus, lily and other floral 
bulbs for the florists and parks of the great 
cities of .America. This is comparatively a 
new industry, but has already demonstrated 
Its wonderful adaptability t> our sr)il an<i climate. 
Hops yield 1,500 pounds per acre; potatoes, 250 to 400 
bushels; sugar beets, 18 tons; carrots, 1(> tons; flax, 4 
tons dry straw anil 10 bushels seed yielding 37 per cent 
of oil; strawberries, li,."i(Ht pounds. 

UIVKRSIFIEI) FARMING— Hay, such as timothy and 
clover, yields usually two crops a year, an average of 
over ,3 tons jier acre, and 5 tons with the second crop 
have been raised in Whatcom countv. Potatoes vield 




from 150 to 300 bushels per acre, and the average price is 
about fiO cents per bushel. Oats yield about 80 bushels and 
the market price averages about 40 cents. Peas yield about 
40 bushels per acre and sell for fl.20 per bushel. Straw- 
berries yield as high as 300 crates of 24 quarts each to the 
acre and the average price exceeds $1.50 to the crate. 
Orchards begin to bear in from two to four years, and the 
greatest difficulty is the natural tendency of the trees to over- 
bear. Apples sell at from r,0 cents to §1.25 per bushel box. 
The foregoing statements relative to farming, etc., are 
extracts from letters written to the Bellingham Chamber of 
Commerce bj' Whatcom county farmers and the facts stated 
are from their own actual experience. 

C, E. Flint writes that in the spring of 1902 he planted 2 
pounds of the Netted Gem variety of potatoes. Under 
ordinary field culture they yielded 2.50 pounds, a lot of 
which he gave away or sold. The remainder were planted 
in the spring of 1903 and yielded GO sacks, or 6,000 pounds. 

Climate and Its EfJ e c t s 

V E R the western, or agricultural, area of Whatcom 
county the direct effect of the Pacific ocean is felt 
and the Japanese ocean currents render the tempera- 
ture mild and moderate at all seasons of the year. 
It is a decidedl}' humid atmosphere; no extremes of heat 
and cold; a good deal of rain during the winter months, 
falling in gentle showers just a little removed from the 
character of mist; cool nights;"a long growing season, and 
profuse vegetation. The general effect of these atmospheric 
conditions is noticed in that tree growth is prodigiously 
stimulated; all roots and vegetables flourish; the softer 
grains, such as oats and barley, yield largely and grow to 
perfection; hay and grass grow remarkably, timothy for 
instance growing to a height of 7}i feet, with heads from 
10 to 12 inches long, and there are generally two crops a 
year; apples, pears, plums, cherries and the small fruits are 
practically indigenous to the soil and yield enormously; 
llowers, especially roses and bulbs, are profuse bloomers 
and grow to complete development; shrubbery is dense and 
luxuriant. It is a country of marvelous growing and life- 
giving powers, and no better garden and field results can be 
obtained anywhere. The mean annual temperature is 50 
degrees; the average summer temperature is 78 degrees and 
the average winter temperature is 45 degrees. The ther- 
mometer seldom goes above 80 degrees in summer and 
rarely below 15 degrees above zero in the winter. The aver- 
age annual rainfall is only 32 inches, and two-thirds of it 
falls during the months from November to April, inclusive. 
There are practically 2(i0 days in the year in which there is 
no rain or snow. The total average snowfall the past six 
years was 11.9 inches. The velocity of the wind averages 
5.60 miles an hour and the worst storms known on Puget 




.MAI> OF NORTHWEST WASHINGTON 

Souiiil sweeps along at a rate of less than 55 miles an com county than in any other I'uget SouikI locality, or 
hour. There is less rain aiui more sunshine in What- in Southern England, or Northern Kiirojie. 

U. S. WEATHER BUREAU RECORD FOR BELLINGHAM 





g 

B 


TEMPERATURE 


PRECIPITATION (Inches) 


SKY 


S! . 


YEAR 


a 
1 

g 

a 
■< 


1 

5 


1 


1 

! 

q 


1 


^ 
1 

^ 





§ 
S 


a 

(0 


IK 

a 

Z 


1 

i'i 


d 1 
Z o 

143 
143 

137 
102 
134 
125 

131 


>< 

•3 
3 

U » 

6 S- 

S5 a 

85 
99 
95 

lis 

132 
97 

104 


Prevailing Dir 
tion or Wind 


1<)03 


9 
8 
7 
l> 
5 
4 


49.5 
49.9 
49.9 
.50.7 
49.7 
50. 


8fi 
94 
80 
78 
9fi 
84 


June 8 19 
.Aug. 9 10 
June 18 1 9 
July 31) 1 12 
July 28 3 
Aug. 1 1 18 


Mar. 12 
Jan. 25 
fan. 9 
Nov. 21 
Jan. 4 
Jan. 25 


: 32.63 

' 31.27 

31.99 

34.73 

33.29 

1 28.40 


5.47 


Nov. 


10. 

9.3 
15.3 

7. 
24. 

6. 


108 
113 
120 
139 
131 
133 

124 


137 
123 
133 
145 
99 
143 

130 




1902 

1901 


5.98 Nov. 
5.91 Nov. 
4.40 Dec. 
5.74NOV. 
4.08iNov. 


Southwest 


liKX> 




1899 




1898 












49.9 




1 


It 32.05 






11.9 


Southwest 






I 









Comparisons might be made here from the United States weather records to show the relative annual rainfall 
in inches in various parts of the Uni:ed States — for instance: 



New York 44.80 I Cincinnati 39.87 , Galveston 48.fi8 | Hellinghaui 32.05 



Atlantic City 42.71 

Atlanta. Ga 50.:}8 

Haltiniore 43.95 

Boston 44. 9f) 

ChatUnooga 52.90 



Chicago 34.76 Eureka, Cal 4t).89 ! Tiicoma 44.63 

Detroit 32..33 Fort Smith, Ark 44.74 Olympia .54.50 

Milwaukee 32.0R Portland, Me 42.26 Union City, Wash 73.6(1 

Indianapolis 42.1M) Portland, Ore 4().83 South Bend, Wash 91.84 

St. Louis 41.08 Seattle, Wash 35.90 Clearwater, Wash 119.45 




BELLINGHAM BAY COUNTRY FARMS 
This table shows the number and acreage of farms and value of farm property in the 
Bellingham Bay country, federal census, June 1, 1900: 





Number „ . . 

of Total Acres 
Farms Cultivated 


VALUES 




COUNTIES 


Land and Improve- 
ments (except 
buildings) 


Buildings 


Total Acres 
Appropriated 




1,262 119,434 

889 87,151 

338 50,981 

28 ' 4,489 


$2,1.54,160 

2,956,110 

725,200 

95,720 


$645,190 

.599,200 

180,440 

15,340 


418,101 


Skagit County 


466,153 
94,815 
12,000 


Lummi Indian Reservation.. 


Totals 


2,517 1 262,055 


$5,931,190 


$1,446,170 


991,129 









YIELD OF GRAIN 

The State Labor Commissioner made an attempt in 1900 to collect statistics of the grain crops of the State, from 
the result of which, although the report is admitted to be incomplete, the following figures, in bushels, are taken: 



COUNTIES 


Year 


. Wheat 


Oats 


Barley 


Rye 


Peas 


Whatcom J 


1899 
1900 
189P 
1900 
1899 
1900 


21,260 
26,350 
4,340 
3,616 
11,817 
10,994 


155,070 
176,300 
1,907,780 
1,526,224 
207,129 
117.056 


14,340 
28,000 
16,240 
13,532 
1,300 
7.-!5 


80 
370 


24,930 
27.420 


Skagit ■ 






4,654 
5.501 




Totals \ 


1899 
1900 


37,417 
40,960 


2,269.979 
1,819,580 


31.880 
42.267 


80 
370 


29,584 
32,921 



Creamery Statistics, iQoj LAND OFFIOF 



ISTIOS, 1903 



Five Whatcom county Creameries during 
1903 report the following; Capital invested 
in plants. $12,175; number of cows contribut- 
ing cream, 2,995; butter output, 525,871 
pounds; wholesale market value paid to 
owners of cows, $130,160.17, or an average 
of 25 cents a pound; number of persons em. 
ployed, 19; annual payroll $14,030; average 
earnings per cow, $43 46. It is estimated 
by the creamery operators that but 30 per cent of the 
butter consumed here is produced in Whatcom county. 

F r tt i t and V c g e t a b I e C a n n e r y 

The only fruit and vegetable cannery in Northwest 
Washington is the plant of the Everson Canning Com- 
pany at Everson, 16 miles northeast from Bellingham. 
It is a four-retort cannery-, daily capacity 5,000 2-pound 
cans per day of 10 hours, operating at least 4 months in 
the year, employing from 5 to 15 persons, according to 
character of material canned. The staple vegetables 
canned are ptas, string beans, pumpkins and tomatoes; 
fruits, apples, pears, prunes, plums, cherries and berries. 



COU.NTIES 


Area Un 
and U 


appropriated 
n reserved 


Reserved or 
Appropriated 




Surveyed 
Acres 


Ur surveyed 
Acres 


Reser^-ed 
Acres 


Appropriated 
Acres 


Whatcom 

Skagit 


16,850 

26,982 

3,230 


11,029 

49,139 

none 


959,640 

628,726 

2,955 


418,161 
466,153 


San Juan 


94,815 


Totals 


47,062 


60,168 


1,-591,321 


979,129 



CLASSIFICATION OF LANDS 

The two tables following are compiled from the report 
of Henry Gannett, geographer, to the United States De- 
partementof the Interior, June 17, 1902: 





COUNTIES 




Whatcom 
Square Miles 


Skagit 
Square Miles 




2,226 

1,387 

636 

170 

33 


1,874 

1,576 

12 


Merchantable timber area 




196 




90 







Az'i'rat^c Hoard 
Miasiirr Per Tree 

Fir, 10,000 fiet; cedar, 
.'>,000 feet; spruce, 7,001' 
feet. Many fir trees are 
from 8 to 14 feet thick 
and from llXI to 15!) feet 
in the cle.->r to the first 
liml), iUtlii'K as liif^h as 
70,(KX» feel ol lumler per 
tree. 

Mountain C ( li a r 

.Muiiiilaiii. or -Maska, Ce- 
dar is plentifnl in t h c 
mountains of Whatcom 
county. It is a wooil of 
rare value, being suscept- 
ible of a very high finish. 




STANDING TIMBER 
The figures represent the estimated feet, board measure, 
and no account is taken of the Ibre.'ts of alder and other useful 
woods in both counties: 



Fir 

Cedar 

Spruce 

Hemlock 

Totals 

.-\verage stand per acre.. 

Total timber, both countic 

T i 111 b c r S t r c n i^ / li a it d D n r a b i I i t r 

I re, KT HO U N D cedar is the most lasting wood known 
Roofs covered with this cedar fifty years ago in this moist 

climate prove that the shingles remain sound and li.ird 
until they ,ire literally worn out by the action of the water. It 
is also a first-clafs sash and door and finishing wood. 
Puget Sound fir is the strongest large wood known. It 
is a superior ship timber, bridge timber, flooring, etc.. 
and is preferred to all others for railroad car sills, bridge 
stringers and ship spars. Its immense girth aiul great 
height, together with its unequalled strength, make it a 
timber of great possibilities It is stronger than oak. a 
fact which has been many times demonstrated by olticial 
comi>etitive tests. One of the late demonstrations of 
this fact was made by the engineering ilepartment of tin- 



Northern Pacific railroad. Pieces of Faslern white pine. 
Kastern oak and Puget Sound fir, each L'x-1 inches and 
4 feet long were laid edgewise on supports 3 feet 9 inches 
apart in the clear and by applying a concentrated 
weight in the center each piece was loaded down until it 
broke. 

The breaking weight or pres-sure was as follows: Eastern 
white pine, l.iilO pounds; Kastern oak, 2,4I?!t pounds; 
Pnget Sound fir, 4,:!1.'0 pounds. 




J! ' It a t c o m Co u n t v II 'ag o ii R o a d s 

IHATCOM county has been recognized for the 

past eleven years as the best wagon road county 

in the state of Washington, both in extent and 

character of its highways, and the ruad experts of the 

United States Department of Agriculture last year secured 

photographs of these roads to illustrate their lectures to 

good roads organizations. The wagon roads of What- 

county are classified as follows: 

Miles 

Gravel roads 100 

Plank roads : 20 

Grubbed and graded roads 195 

.Partly improved roads 270 

Total 591 

Cost since 1893 $793,582 

Whatcom County Railroads 



II' h a t 


C III 


C II 


II / V 


/, a 


/■ c s 




LAKES 


Miles Distant 

from 
Bellingham 


Leneth 

Mites 


Width 
Miles 


Average Altitude 
Depth Ft. above 
Feet Tidewatr 


Whatcom .. 

Padden 

Samish 

Baker 


2% 

8 
42 


12 


u 

'A 
IK 


200 

25 
22 

70 


318 

437 

285 

1,000 



There are a large number of other lakes of lesser im- 
portance, but all adding to the pleasure and health of 
the summer season. These include Lakes Terrill, Wiser, 
Twin, Silver, Mirror, Austin, Barrett, Squalicum, 
Chuckanut and the Lummi Marshes. 

Elbert Hubbard, in the The Philistine of Februarj-. 
1904, concludes an enthusiastic presentation of his im- 
pressions of Puget Sound with this statement: "If an 
ideal environment will ever produce an ideal people 
and an ideal people \ make an ideal city, I think 

the suburbs^of that city ^t will be near Puget 
Sound." 



'A 




Qp\ E L L I N G H A M is the most favored city of the Pacific 
■^S Coast in both railroad and ocean transportation facili- 
J ties, being a 
terminus of 
the Great Northern, 
Northern Pacific and 
Canadian Pacific rail- 
roads, and the sole 
Pacific Coast terminus 
of another great rail- 
road now under con- 
struction from this 
city east, which will 
bring this port 25 miles 




nearer to the Wasliiiijjtiin wlicat ami stock farms liiaii 
Hnj' other important I'uget Souml seaport, at the same 
time reducing the grade across the mountains 15 per 
cent. Bellinghani is 58 milts nearer to the Pacific ocean 
and 13(i miles nearer to Alaska than Tacoma. There are 
Hit miles of railroad main track in Whatcom county, of 



which 15 miles ■was built in 1!(0S, at a cost of nearly 
$.500,00t); 37 miles in 1!»02, costing J2,25O,000, and 1!» 
miles in lilOl, costing |432,000. The Bellinghani l!ay & 
British Columbia has a handsome railway station in 
Bellingham and the Great Northern is now completing 
#20,000 a brick and stone depot. 




WlhaUcoinni C ovumty Mimes 



II .^ TC O M county has beside 250 square miles 
of coal measures, about 1,200 s<iuare miles of 
the most picturesque and rugged mountain fast- 
nesses of the United States, all of which is 
richly mineralized with gold, silver, copper, iron and 
other precious or useful metals. The unusual difficulty 
of transportation to and from this treasure-laden region, 
now being opened up extensively, has retarded its 
development and 1!I03 witnessed its first considerable 
recognition as a gold-producing field of remarkable 
richness. Capital far into the millions is now rapidly 
overcomi.ig the rugged barriers of nature, and the Mount 

Baker and hlate 
Creek gold fields 
have won the at- 
tention of mining 
men the world 
over. In 1!K)3 
three stamp mills 
with tMI .stamps 
were operated in 
the Mount Baker 




district and 130 additiiinal stamps have already been 
ordered for installation this year, as well as a cjanide 
plant of 200 tons daily capacity for one of the mining 
companies. Not less than 2,000 tons of machinery and 
supplies will be taken into this district early this season. 
The Slate Creek camp had four stamp mills in lilt)3, aggre- 
gating 30 stamps, and .50 stamps will be added this 
season. Over (500 tons of supplies were taken into the 
district in l!t03, and this quantity will be at least doubled 
this year. Both the Mount Baker and Slate Creek dis- 
tricts have free-miling gold ore, as well as baser ore. 
Beside the true minerals, there are vast ledges of talc, 
potters', tile and brick clay, marble, lime, asbestos and 
the best buiding stone on' 
the Pacific Coast. 
The Chuckanut stone 
quarry, Bellinghani. i-- 
favored above all otlu i-- 
by the U. S govcrnmeiit . 
The value of the out]nn 
for the year 1903 was 
|48,(W0. 



^WWR. 



osime Wlhiatcoinni Coujiinity Himdluflstrieg 



INDISTRIES 
(Except Logging) 



Lumber 

Sbingles 

Fisheries 

Woodworking 

Stone and Brick 

Printing and Binding 

Textile Industries 

Creameries 

Iron Working 

Brewing and Bottling 
C'garmaking 

Totals 



$ 580,000 

No report 

2,129,000 

50,750 

19,000 

.■!4.570 

L'L',."il)0 

5.5110 

(;.39,700 

43,000 

5.000 



657 $330,750 $ 721,991 



7fi4 

4255 

3li6 

57 I 

55 

1 
289 
20 

5 



535,891' 

724,8 

271.204 
37,740 
32,452 
19,350 
4,125 

156,310 
16,485 
4,500 



108 13,530,020 |6521 I 2,133,634 $4,517,984 



967.714 
1,326,600 

037,801 
50,650 
46,600 
47,697 
42,900 

605,031 
91,000 
10.000 



$1,700,000 1316 

No report |2160 

2,595.600 4441 

158,000 I 443 

84,000 

54,421 

38,800 

12,175 

837,500 

285,000 

12.500 



231 $5,777,996 9243 8,926,330i 




7,160 



SUMMARY 



1 Number of Capital in 
1 Plants Plants 


Persons 
Employed. 


Annual Value of 
Payroll Products 


1900 j 108 $3,530,020 

1901 141 4,604,5.50 

1902 ' 189 4,8.17,800 

1903 ^ 231 5,777,996 


6,521 
7,955 
8,619 
9,24.S 


$2,133,634 $4,517,984 
2,677,938 8,659,797 
3,221,656 8,160,642 
3,926,330 9,987,160 


Per ct. of increase..! 113 63 


42 


84 120 




NOTE. — These tables make no account of the logging industry, of which there are 

16 camp.s, employing about 500 men ; nor of the mines, gold and coal, employing about 500 men eight months each 

year; nor of the tar and turpentine industry, fertilizers manufacturing, cold storage, etc. 

NOTE — The information contained in this booklei husls compiled and authorized by the. Beltingham Chamber of Com- 
merce. The photos, ccver design, printing and binding are examples of Bellingham art and 'workmanship. Those 
interested in securing further information concerning North-west Washington should -write to 

"BELLINGHAM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, Bellingham, Wash. 



LAKE 

WHATCOM 

TROUT 



OLLY PRESS 




